


That Which Burns

by oldmountainsoul



Category: Star Wars Legends: Knights of the Old Republic
Genre: Angst, Betrayal, Duelling, F/F, Partner Betrayal, Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-29
Updated: 2015-09-29
Packaged: 2018-04-24 01:19:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4900021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oldmountainsoul/pseuds/oldmountainsoul
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A reimagining of the encounter with Bastila on the Rakatan Temple summit</p>
            </blockquote>





	That Which Burns

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fill for the prompt 'a doomed kiss', though it will be part of 'The Dying Stars'--will add it as part 3 once I get part 2 up and going. Warning for abuse, trauma, and some violence.

 Rys was almost feral as she sprinted through the temple doors with inhuman speed as soon as the shields outside the Rakatan Temple finally collapsed, not looking back to see if Jolee and Juhani were following. They would only slow her down, and she wasn’t sure she wanted her friends to see her this way. 

 Racing down the corridor, she sought out any presences in the temple, desperately reaching out for Bastila through their bond. As her companions had predicted, the floor was swarming with Dark Jedi, but there was no trace of Bastila. The Jedi was deliberately shutting her out from their bond, as she had the moment she had been captured. 

 She slammed open the first door she encountered with a burst of Force, throwing a group of training Sith against the opposite wall and knocking their sabers out of their hands. 

 “It’s Revan! The Dark Lord will reward us for her death!” one of them cried with dreadful predictability. 

 Growling, Rys sent another another surge of energy out of herself, this time electrocuting half the room. She threw herself at the Dark Jedi who had spoken, pinning him to the wall by his throat. 

 “Where. Is. Bastila. Shan.” she demanded. When the Sith said nothing, merely gasped for breath, Rys’s voice went deathly quiet. “My mind may have been broken by the Jedi, but  _you_  have only three seconds to tell me or I will break  _every single bone in your body and feed you your own lightsaber.”_

“Easy there, kid. He’s not worth it.” Jolee chided. He and Juhani had finally caught up to her. 

 “You’re right. We don’t have time for this. Goodbye, _you_   _worthless_   _scum_.” she hissed, igniting her silver lightsaber through the Dark Jedi’s heart. Rys then deactivated the saber and attached it back to her belt in a single motion. 

 “This is not like you, Alderys, you haven’t been yourself since Bastila was–” Juhani started, reaching out to rest a reassuring hand on the former Dark Lord’s shoulder. 

 “ _I AM NOT MYSELF!”_ Rys shouted, harshly brushing her hand away. “I don’t know who I am and I don’t have the time to find out. I have to find  _her_  to find out.” she spat. Rys shook her head, a dazed look in her eyes. “No, you’re right, I–I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have spoken to you that way. You are one of my dearest friends, and I appreciate your concern, but  _now is not the time._ I am going to tear this temple apart with my bare hands if I must, and I can’t guarantee your safety if you get in my way.” 

 “I understand, Revan. We will speak more of this later. But please, do not lose sight of yourself.” Juhani replied softly. 

 “Are you two whippersnappers done having a heart to heart, or are we going to have a picnic too while we’re here?” Jolee called out. 

 Rys groaned. “You’re right, old man. We need to go, but I would not recommend pressing me further.” And with that, she had dashed from the room, tearing through the temple with blood roaring in her ears and lightning shooting from her fingers. 

* * *

 

  Rys froze when she made it to the top of the temple stairs, almost not recognizing the figure in the distance on the summit. 

 “Ah, Revan. I knew you’d come.”  Bastila smirked, turning from her place at the signal jammer’s beacon. “My Master thought you wouldn’t dare to brave the temple yourself, but I know you better.” 

 “Of course. You know I’d do anything for you.” Rys replied softly, dropping her hands to her sides and holding the Jedi’s gaze. 

 “Bastila, we still have time, but we must escape before the Dark Lord arrives–” Juhani called, coming to a halt behind Rys. 

 “I don’t think she’s going to take us up on that offer, kid.” Jolee sighed. 

 “For once in your life, old man, you are correct.” Bastila laughed, circling them. Once she had passed Revan’s side, she let out a harmless burst, knocking the two Jedi back and sealing the doors to the summit after them. “I think it’s best we have this conversation alone, don’t you think,  _love?”_

 _“As you wish.”_ Rys murmured, unfazed, keeping still as Bastila resumed circling her like a predator. 

 “You’ve grown much stronger since last we met, the taint I always felt within you is alive and well. Look at us, those on whom all the hopes of the Jedi Order were pinned, willful masters of the Dark Side, greater than the fools ever could have dreamed.” Bastila said, her voice rich and dark and deep, curling around Rys like dark tendrils of Force energy, calling out to her. 

  “I am no Jedi. I am no Sith, either. I'm Alderys Lytan. I am Revan. And I was your lover once.” Rys replied simply. 

 “I have come to kill you, you know. Or so my Master believes. To prove my loyalty to him, he thinks. He knows nothing of the bond we share and all that it entails, or of how strong you’ve become.” Bastila continued, “Malak may have opened my eyes to the power of the Dark Side, but he himself lacks foresight. Had he known his place, what transpired on that bridge the day we met might have never been. You could have brought me to your side so much sooner, and we could have conquered the Core Worlds in a matter of weeks. With Malak’s forces, your strategy, and my Battle Meditation, we would have brought the galaxy to its knees. But Malak made his choices. And he will suffer for them. You are his superior in every way, together we could cut him down and take back your rightful place as Dark Lord of the Sith! You once told me, before the Council tore your mind, that we could have accomplished much together, were we not who we were. But we are different now, and you were right. We could be so much more, Revan, more than Malak could have ever dreamed!” she exclaimed, leaning in close, her breath on Rys’s ear. 

 “Is that really what you want, Bastila? For me to offer you the galaxy, crushed beneath my heel? To bring you Malak’s head on a pike for what he’s done to you?” Rys asked, turning to face her and cup Bastila’s cheek. 

 “Do not question me as if I were some spoiled  _child_!” she hissed, recoiling as if Revan’s hand were poison and drawing away, something inside her snapping as she whirled on the older woman. 

 “Do you resent him, for what he did to you? Bastila, what did he  _do_ to you?”

 Rys stepped forward, closing the distance between them and she felt a flash of anxiety through their bond. She reached for Bastila again, with mind and hand, sending out consoling energy through their bond as she stroked the former Jedi’s hair, though she carefully maintained some distance between them, determined not to press.

 A rush of despair poured out from Bastila’s end of their bond, and the Dark Jedi crumpled. 

 “I… I…. For seven whole days, I suffered. I was steadfast. I was strong. As a Jedi should be, emotionless and empty. With neither rest nor reprieve, with neither food nor water, I sustained myself with only the Force as they  _hurt_ me, over and over and over without ceasing. All of my energies were focused on keeping myself sheltered from our bond, out of duty, so that I would not be tempted by the taint I sensed within you. Out of… pathetic, foolish, ridiculous  _love_ , and pride, for I neither wanted you to suffer as I was, nor to see me in that state.” Bastila whispered brokenly.   

 “I’m so sorry.” Rys murmured, surging forward and pulling Bastila close to her chest. The younger woman froze, and the moment stretched between them, both at a loss for words.

 Suddenly, Bastila shoved her away. “That’s… enough.” she gasped, her jaw set and her eyes hard and glaring. “That was  _weakness. You_  are a weakness, Revan. And you have failed me. All of them have failed me. The Jedi, their council and their code, they have failed me, they have  _used_ me. And Malak is no better. I am but a tool to them, but  _I am my own weapon._  I will be stronger for it, I will never be hurt by them, never be  _used_ by them again. I will defeat you, and I will cut down Malak myself.  _I will be my own weapon.”_ she hissed, drawing her lightsaber. 

“Prepare yourself, Revan!” she shouted, leaping at the older woman. 

 Rys drew her own saber and caught the stroke, twisting to defuse the power behind it. She stepped back, only parrying as Bastila bore down on her, raining blows with both sides of her dualsaber as the younger woman forced her to the wall. 

 The close quarters left no room left to attack, and so they stood in a lock, pressed together with their glowing blades inches from their faces. 

 Rys flicked on her energy shield, buying her a few precious moments to act. She deactivated her saber, tossing it to the side, and with a Herculean effort, reached up to grab Bastila’s saber in hands glowing with Force, wrenching it out of her hands and throwing it away just as the shield’s charge fizzled out. She held the other woman’s face in her hands, drawing her close again and kissing her desperately. 

 “You’re right. I have failed you. You deserve vengeance, and justice, and healing. You deserve more than this.” she whispered.

 “Do not presume to tell me my own mind!” Bastila shouted, tearing herself away and throwing the older woman back against the wall with a Force burst. She turned and ran for the shuttle as Rys slumped to the floor, caught by surprise. 

 “We will meet again, when I am stronger, and I  _will_  kill you, Revan. Bond or no bond, I will be beholden to  _no one._ ” she called as the spacecraft lifted into the air. 

* * *

 

 Rys hadn’t moved by the time her two Jedi companions made it through the door. Juhani ran to turn off the beacon as Jolee strode up to the crumpled former Sith. 

 “What happened out here, kid?” 

 “I failed her.” 


End file.
